A listing of past GODORT Chairs with links to "Communications from the Chair" and archived DttP issues.

New GPO Report on Regional Libraries

Just released today - "GPO completed its report, Regional Depository Libraries in the 21st Century: A Time for Change? The JCP has now asked GPO to make it available as a draft and to seek comments from the depository community. The report is available on the FDLP Desktop <[1]>. GPO will accept comments through a Web form at the same URL until June 15, 2008."

I am urging all GODORT members to review and respond - either as individuals or as part of the association. Sleeman 12:39, 2 June 2008 (CDT)

GODORT ELECTION RESULTS:

Congratulations to everyone who was elected and thanks to all who ran for a position. GODORT is so very fortunate to have so many talented members who are willing to stand for office and who continue to mentor and provide leadership for our Round Table. Thank you. Sleeman 08:23, 6 May 2008 (CDT)

GPO Conference Call
[Colleagues, GODORT Steering works to keep in regular communication with our partners at GPO. We recently took part in a conference call with Ric Davis and staff at GPO. The minutes of that conversation are attached below. Please direct any questions about the topics my way. Thanks. Sleeman 16:41, 27 March 2008 (CDT)]

1) RD: Status of search for new Superintendent of Documents: ongoing, the Public Printer would like to fill the job as soon as possible. GPO is still seeking candidates from the community, contact Ric at GPO with recommendations.

2) RD: Public Printer Tapella is instituting environmental initiatives at the GPO: recycling, conservation, and GPO now uses environmentally friendly inks and paper. One challenge is the size and age of the current building. Discussions about “right-sizing” the building are ongoing with the Appropriations committees.

3) RD: GPO opening new passport facility in Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (Congress wanted a second secure facility that was outside of the DC area.) Should be producing passports by late 2008.

4) RD: Report on House Appropriations Hearing: it went well. Representatives’ questions focused on passport security concerns. Request for $7 mil increase to FDLP budget (S&E was $39.9 mil this year, requested $43 mil for S&E next year). Increase for: cataloging of more content (FDSys will bring in more fugitives), modernization of item selection system and other tangible distribution improvements; more storage for permanent public access, revamping inspection program, etc. Did ask why GPO wants money to improve a building that they plan to leave; the answer was that the money is for basic necessary maintenance: repairs to a leaking roof, repair or replacement of broken air conditioners, etc.

5) RHM: In January 2008, a Request for Information for Mass Digitization Opportunities was posted to Federal Business Opportunities. GPO requested information specific to the digitization of publications that are within scope of GPO’s dissemination programs that only exist in tangible format. GPO envisioned a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship with a private or public sector participant where the fully-faithful, uncompressed, unaltered files created as a result of the conversion process were to be delivered to GPO. The files would serve as the digital master copies that would be preserved and used for the creation of access derivatives within the FDsys. In exchange, the private or public sector participant will be able to maintain a collection of files produced in the process for inclusion in their collections (e.g., search indices, book search sites). The initial impression regarding the vendor responses is that there was some confusion among vendors about the difference between an RFP and an RFI. There was little attempt by companies that submitted proposals to arrive at a self-sufficient model. GPO is currently in the process of evaluating the responses to the RFI.

6) LH & RHM: Status of EPA harvesting project: GPO worked through 300 of the documents to gather information on what it will take for GPO to provide access to harvested materials (process, workflow and staffing implications). So far: the back end automation of meta-data extraction is not ready; parameters for metadata that accompanies the files needs improvement to automate de-duping; and the rules, methods and mechanisms for harvesting need to be refined (approximately 28% of material was not in scope). Basically, it is still taking more staff time to make these available than GPO can afford. BS asked about the FGI taxonomy experiment and if GPO would be investigating the results of that effort. GPO may incorporate that information into the project as the project moves forward.

7) GB: Status of FDSys: GPO is taking a larger role in the management of the project. Mike Walsh, who originally worked on FDSys, is now GPO CIO and understands the project. The System Release Capabilities document was updated in Dec 2007; the Concept of Operations Document update is coming soon. GPO has regular meetings with the Executive Branch agencies including beta testing activities; meeting periodically with congressional staff to understand their requirements; and working with people from the Federal Register.

8) LH: ILS: opened z39.50 gateway last week. Lots of traffic; library entries in FDLP directory have password information. Currently the ILS is being updated from Aleph version 16 to version 18.

9) LH: Pre-76 Cataloging: currently the Procurement Review Board is reviewing GPO’s recommendation for awarding the contract for this work. Hoping to see cards converted into CGP entries this Summer.

10) LH: The Census Atlas is being distributed under 0556-C as a core publication. CH commented that this is part of the future of the FDL, that core publications would be identified and disseminated to all and asked what mechanisms can be used to recommend a publication for distribution as a core publication. LH said that GPO does get recommendations from librarians, recommendations have been coming in through GPO Express, (and some were from LostDocs).

11) LH: DTIC automated metadata extraction project: working with 1,000 document sample from EPA Harvest Project, they’re working on rules and template design. Getting the next batch of 1,000 records ready for their work. Records will go in CGP with an identifying 590 field so that they can be looked at as a batch.

12) LC: OPAL, GPO continues to use OPAL for online training and demos. At present, technical capabilities limit presentations to slide shows, such as PowerPoint presentations. Interactive web functions will be added in the future. January call for participation in creation of tutorials netted one submission; hoping to generate interest at DLC.

13) BS: GODORT session at DLC, thanked GPO staff for helping to make that possible.

14) CE: Gov Info Online handling reference questions asked through GPOs Ask a Librarian service. Had 65 questions in first three weeks. Have also added a page on “point of need services” to the desktop and are hoping to generate interest for partnerships for those services.

15) BS: asked about Shared Regional Proposal: RD: JCP expressed the opinion that GPO could not directly approve the proposal under the existing authority in Title 44. JCP asked GPO to submit a report on June 1, 2008 on the issues with the current Regionals model and what is needed in Title 44 as we move into the future. GPO will gather more information at the Regionals meeting at DLC. These sessions will be open and librarians from Selectives can attend but it is up to the Regionals to decide on the rules for the session, including rules on who may speak. GPO will create electronic ways for Selectives and other members of the community to express their thoughts on this matter.

16: JM: The returns process has changed with GPO’s move from FedEx to UPS. UPS will pick up items to be returned – they will have the label. FDLs should call GPO so UPS can be sent to pick up the materials.

The mainstream media love a good scandal (as does the blogosphere) so information access issue are rarely ever the stuff of breaking news especially so when there is always some scandal brewing involving an elected official and call girls! Who wants to read about dusty old documents or missing e-mails? Although the issues important to us do occasionally get some coverage - witness the front page story in the New York Times about the release of the CIA’s “family jewels” (as an aside I think this story and the material might have benefitted from a less offensive moniker). Still, the coverage is infrequent enough that I always find it interesting when an issue that the government information community has been trumpeting makes its way into the mainstream press. Two good examples of this occurred recently and are worth considering what they might mean for the future.

First, after much discussion in the library community Newsweek (“Periscope”, March 17, 2008) finally awakened to the fact that the Clinton’s were playing hardball (or, by shifting blame to the archivists on staff at the presidential library, not hardball but rather a shell game of ever shifting reasons and responsibilities) with access to their records every bit as much as the current President does.

Of’ course the Clintons have always engaged in this behavior, from their excessive use of attorney-client privilege to their outright disavowal of any knowledge of wrongdoing during their tenure in the White House, denying access to information was their MOI. Oh, did I mention involving their own friends in outright theft from NARA in order to cover the Clinton’s tracks. But the Clintons’ have always gotten away with this because for many in the media they are seen as fellow liberal travelers. In the “Periscope” article authors Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball attempt to contrast Senators Obama and Clinton and suggest that Obama is already, and will continue to be, more open than Hillary Clinton. The authors fail to consider the real issue which, as any government information librarian will tell you, is really about power. Future Presidents, whether Clinton, Obama or McCain, are unlikely to retreat from the inroads made by President George Bush in denying access to information. Government information librarians have always fought this fight and we continue to do so. I can only hope that the media is finally wising up and starting to realize that access to information is a non-partisan issue and even when their liberal heroes are guilty of blocking access the media needs to call them on it…if only to maintain its integrity.

The other interesting bit of news media coverage was Congressional Quarterly’s article of March 1st (“Futurist: 1-click government”) authored by Mark Stencel (www.cqpolitics.com). Stencel seems not to realize that there is an entire community of professionals that have been advocating and working towards just what he describes in near epiphany like terms as an “Amazon-like 1 click government portal!” Trying to get all government produced information at one spot, easily accessible and free is central to what we do. HELLLOOOO, someone needs to get this guy a subscription to DttP or Government Information Quarterly or maybe send him a link to FGI. Or, maybe he could just go down the hall and talk to one of the librarians on staff at CQ? Just a thought….

I had the great honor to represent GODORT at the 125th Anniversary celebration of West Virginia University Libraries membership in the FDLP. It was quite an event. They have a beautiful facility and a top notch – as most us already know – librarian in Christine Chang. Here is a link to the event from the WVU libraries homepage. [[3]]

What am I reading? Right now I am making my way through the wonderfully well written “Thieves of Baghdad” (subtitle: One Marine’s Passion for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to Recover the World’s Greatest Stolen Treasures) by Matthew Bogdanos [[4]] (2005).

Bogdano is an excellent writer and his story is a wonderful mix of true crime, political intrigue and military history. Although his constant classical references border on the pedantic he otherwise provides an astute and detailed look at what was a major news event at the time (and remains so today in the art world) while offering a “grunt’s ground level view of the Iraq war. Well worth your time if interested in art thefts and international crime generally.

Another interesting read that I have dipped into is from the Combat Studies Institute Press – Eyewitness to war: the US Army in Operation AL FAJR: an oral history (D 110.2:W 19), 2006. [8] (or Volume2.PDF). While many of the comments, as you might suspect, are edited and controlled by military brass it is, for an ‘official’ history a revealing collection of stories and events focused on one particular action.

And this just in: D 101.2:AF 3/2 – Long Hard Road: NCO Experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq (2007) from the U.S. Sergeants Major Academy. Have only just seen this so can’t offer any analysis although a quick glance suggests that it is similar to the “Eyewitness to War” volume above. I appreciate the efforts by the military to get these stories out to the public but I wonder how ‘edited’ the content is.
Sleeman 09:51, 21 February 2008 (CST)

Open Access in the White House:

In other news: if you have not seen it GODORT members should take a look at the December 17, 2007 CQ Weekly and the article A Question of Balance which speculates on how the presidential candidates (at that time) may deal with the issue of transparency in the Executive Office if elected. Will they be more open or less than the current administration? Most, it was suggested, will follow the practices already put in place by Bush II. Scary!

Election Day – plus three:

It was a long day out on the front lines of the great state of Maryland’s primary election in Baltimore County. Most everything went well – this is because we have a great group of volunteers for whom running a tight, problem free election is something they really value. A couple of the volunteers at my precinct have been volunteering for nearly ten years and they keep coming back. In addition, we had two really good new folks – a retired doctor and a high school senior. An interesting contrast in skills but surprisingly they were both in the same party and shared many of the same viewpoints. Part of the job as an Election Judge, I think, is not just to run the election but to manage the volunteers and I hope that I involved both and gave them enough different tasks over the course of the day that they will be back for the general election in November. On a sad note, one of the Democrat volunteers did not show up on Tuesday morning and when I called the person said that they ‘did not have the time’ to come in!

I was a bit worried about the way that the State arranged for the delivery of the poll books. In the past the Chief Election Judge (I or my Republican Counterpart) picked them up directly from the Board of Elections (BOE), this year BOE assigned a “Technical Assistant Judge” to do this. The person we had was great, very together, but it was unnecessarily anxiety producing to have to rely on an unknown to deliver what is essentially the key component to getting the elections underway. The idea behind the Technical Assistant Judge is a good and really freed us up to deal with running the election and not servicing the equipment.

Not that we needed much help as overall we did not have very many problems. The usual sort of questions from voters (and I am always surprised by the lack of preparation and understanding of the process that voters bring to Election Day) about who can vote and “how do I know my vote has been counted?” We also had, as we did at the last gubernatorial election, a lot of students from the local university who had completed voter registration forms on campus but for some reason the information never got into the official records. I don’t know if it was the fault of the group doing the on-campus voter drive, the BOE or what but really this needs to get resolved. It is frustrating for everyone involved and the students come away feeling like they were shortchanged – often upset with us at the polling place for enforcing the laws about how they can vote (provisional paper ballot) when they are not listed in the poll books for our location. Adding to this challenge was the number of students who were registered as independents but did not understand that Maryland is a ‘closed primary state’ so there was some more disappointment for them.

The major ice storm that hit the mid-Atlantic on Election Day kept many voters away and led to the poll hours being extended until 9:30. Of’ course, no one from the BOE contacted us and we were just closing up at 8:00 p.m. when a voter arrived and said she wanted to vote. She was followed shortly by a local T.V. crew. I had to get on the cell phone and call the local BOE…it was disappointing that the BOE made no effort to get in touch with us.

Next election cycle Maryland will be going to a new optical scanner system – what I understand will be a modified version of the old “circle the dot, feed into the scanner” units. If it creates a greater level of comfort in the equipment and the process it will be a good thing but if the State tries to do it on the cheap or without adequate preparation it could prove to be just a problematic as the switch to the electronic voting machines was.

New Election Law Research Page:

After much effort and a lot of help from a very talented colleague the Thurgood Marshall Law Library has moved to live a new research page on election law. As I wrote in LJ this is an area where government information librarians really can make a difference and I hope that others will launch similar pages/efforts to educate voters about elections and election law.
[[9]]

What is the future of the regional library and services in the Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia FDLP region? After a long time coming the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) has finally released “Report of the University of Maryland Libraries Government and Geographic Information Services Task Force to the Library Executive Council.” UMCP has been working on this for several years and has come up with what I believe is a reasonable response to the changes in the FDLP and how our clients access government information while being responsive to the needs of their immediate community. While they are to be faulted for not involving the selective libraries in their region from the outset when first undertaking their analysis once staff at UMCP were made aware of our concern they moved quickly to involve Jim Gillispie, Head, Access Services and Government Publications at Johns Hopkins University – one of the largest selectives in our region. In light of the shared regional proposal from GPO I think UMCP’s recommendations are worth studying and I encourage you to review the documents at:

Dan Cornwall and his colleagues over at FGI have initiated an exciting project to “tag” some of the documents captured by GPO during their test harvesting of the EPA Internet site. See: FGI [[12]]

This is a brilliant and simple method to test the value of social tagging for speeding and improving access to these EPA documents and to perhaps help GPO get these resources out to the public sooner rather than later. I want to encourage those of you who have not looked at this to do so. It is a great idea although it might have been more inclusive if it had sought to include other tagging communities.

A neat idea from the smart folks at FGI. Sleeman 12:00, 1 February 2008 (CST)

On FGI John Shuler has been blogging this past month and one of his topics was “What to Teach Government Information Students” in grad school. I wanted to share with GODORT my response as I think it is also an area where we in GODORT can and should make a contribution – professionalism and a commitment to the profession. You can read the entire thread of John’s blog at FGI [[13]] :

“An interesting question but since I don’t teach government information I am hesitant to weigh in on specific topics that students should cover in class. But your question did force me to think back over my own career and consider what was the most helpful of topics covered in library school. I think what I have come to value the most about my own coursework was the emphasis that was always present on making a commitment to the profession. Similarly, I hope that your students would leave your class with a commitment to the profession and to the government information community. I was extremely fortunate to work with the wonderful Joan Durrance when I attended University of Michigan. Although I can’t recall her ever saying it outright Professor Durrance instilled in us a sense of responsibility to the community we were seeking to join. I left her docs class not just interested in documents but convinced of the importance of access to government information and committed to ensuring it.

“Professionalism” isn’t something that can be taught really but modeled; it comes from mentors and fine teachers, like you John, who are committed to the profession. What do I think you should teach to government information students – t hat our profession and our cause is a noble one. I think that you (and others who teach government information) are in a unique position to not just teach the content and resources but to nurture that sense of commitment that will help us to create professional leaders for our future. “
Sleeman 11:42, 30 January 2008 (CST)

Colleagues,

It was wonderful to see so many of you in Philadelphia earlier this week. It was quite a conference and I appreciate all of the hard work and effort that each of you contributed to making the GODORT meetings and events successful.

By now you may have heard that all three of our resolutions were passed by ALA Council. I understand that the three will be forwarded to GPO. As soon as I get the official approved version I will also forward the Tribal Colleges resolution to those interested parties that helped bring this issue to our attention.

The GODORT Update was very well attended and I am especially appreciative of the attention to detail that went into planning that program. The speakers were great!

Kevin McClure attended the ALA/WO breakout session on E-government and came back with a better understanding of how we can be a part of the conversation within ALA about this important service. One immediate outcome was a request to work with LRRT on their program devoted to E-government for Annual 2008.

At Steering two on Monday we approved both the ballot for officers of the Round Table and the recipients of our various awards. These will be presented at ALA Annual in Anaheim at what sounds as if it will be an excellent reception. I hope that you are planning to be there.
The Program and Pre-Conferences are coming together nicely and I am grateful that the Program Committee has found a way to work around the spread out nature of the next ALA Conference site.
The downside of a successful business meeting is that as Chair I come back with less paper but more things to do. I am busily trying to resolve the spacing issues that the Anaheim Conference site for Annual presents. Our Past-Chair Aimee Quinn is doing a great job trying to make everything fit in the abbreviated time frame that ALA is employing for the Conference. I have also been busy following up with letters and in trying to craft a statement on the ALA Draft Protocol for Responding to Requests from Outside Organizations for ALA’s Official Position.

That’s all for now. Again, thanks for all of your hard work in Philly. Sleeman 14:42, 28 January 2008 (CST)

A very good report from OMB Watch - Hiding in Plain Site on how commercial search engines fail to fully identify government information. Take a look at this report if you have not as it is yet another example of how we can all do better if agencies (at all levels) made greater use of the technical resources available to them. [14]Sleeman 14:26, 17 December 2007 (CST)

If you have not seen this article by Greg Lastowka on the nexus of Google and intellectual property it is worth taking a look at. [15]

As I have said several times, I think what Google is doing to the established practice of Fair Use (as it 'works' in libraries) is a danger to libraries. If the Google position that scanning the entire book and only making small portions available online is fair I would expect to see push back from the publishing industry; push back that could fall on our ILL and reserves practices. Personally, I don't think what Google claims is an accurate presentation of the concept of fair use (but I'm not a lawyer).

Anyway, the Lastowka article is an excellent piece of analysis. Sleeman 10:08, 16 November 2007 (CST)

A couple of thoughts on the developing "Hillary Gate" -

As Hillary Clinton continues her campaign for President access to her papers at the Clinton Presidential Library has been much in the news of late. In response to the questions about these papers NARA staff plead poverty claiming that they don't have enough staff to process all of the material so journalist interested in these resources will just have to wait. Interestingly, the former President, Bill Clinton, claims that if it were up to him all of the materials would be released but then he relies on the November 2001 Executive Order (E.O. 13233) of President Bush as an excuse for not releasing the material.

In the past few months ALA and many of our colleagues in other library organizations have been pushing for the passage of H.R. 1255 - the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007. Many of the arguments used to advocate for the passage of the bill have hinged, rightfully, on the understanding that the papers of the president are essential for an informed citizenry and should not be blocked. Yet I have heard no similar swell of anger over the lack of access to the Hillary Clinton papers by the library community. I wonder if this is because she is perceived as one of us while Bush, a conservative Republican, is not.

It seems to me that the Hillary Clinton "paper gate" offers the American Library Association an opportunity to continue to agitate for the passage of H.R. 1255 while simultaneously demonstrating that our commitment to the issue isn't tied to a particular political philosophy but transcends parties. Sleeman 10:08, 16 November 2007 (CST)

10-19-07

Communicating with ARL

Colleagues,

It was good to see so many of you at FDLC this past week. Although there is a lot that I need to follow up from that conference I wanted to let you know that Cass Hartnett, Chair-elect, and I had a very good meeting on Wednesday afternoon with Prue Adler, Associate Executive Director of ARL. She had a number of suggestions and ideas about GODORT and government information many of which were in line with my own stated goals for GODORT.

I know that in the past the Roundtable's relationship with ARL has been a matter of concern with many of our members and I want to assure you that I will be taking Prue's recommendations to heart. One area that I will try to immediately work into my routine is to share with Prue issues that may directly affect ARL libraries but I need those of you in ARL institutions to help me recognize those issues.

As always I welcome your recommendations on how to work more effectively with those organizations that I am not directly "plugged into." By working together with our fellow professional organizations we can build a stronger GODORT and more effectively influence the future of access to government information.

Thanks, Bill

9-26-07

I had a chance earlier in the month to travel to GPO (the advantages of being in Baltimore) and see a brief presentation - "proof of concept" - of the FDSys for agencies. It was very well thought out and seemingly effective. The biggest concern expressed by those who attended seemed to be less about the product and more about the inability of GPO to get the agencies to participate. As suggested by one GPO official a change in how Title 44 is applied would help this but I, for one, am reluctant to open up Title 44 for revision until we have a closer agreement on what sort of outcome we would like. Getting back to FDSys another concern was the creation of two silos of data. While GPO officials claim that a search in the Catalog of Government Publications would turn up FDSys publication submission data they were not exactly clear on how, or at what point in the process it would happen.

Still, they are clearly on the right track product wise and it was gratifying to see even a small portion of the effort getting underway.

8-23-07
UPCOMING GODORT/SLA PROGRAM AT FDLP

How Do Journalists Use Government Information?

Ever wonder how journalists find and use government information? On
October 15, New York Times reporter Scott Shane
(http://tinyurl.com/2nfugw) and Washington Post research editor Alice
Crites, MLS (http://tinyurl.com/2mrybn) will address this question and
related issues. Join us for a lively program sponsored jointly by ALA's
Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) and SLA's Government
Information Division (DGI).

An excellent proposal for the future of government information can be found in Congressional Information & the Internet from the "Openhouse Project." [17]

This is a conversation that GODORT might want to be more involved in.

7-2-07

I wanted to let you all know that we had a very good meeting with staff from the Joint Committee on Printing on Tuesday during the ALA Day on the Hill event. Both Matt McGowan and Mike Harrison participated and the discussion was quite good. They were both engaged in the conversation and the Q&A was wide ranging. While I am not so naive as to believe that they rushed back to their office to change their approach I do think that they heard us and appreciated our frank comments. I hope that we can build on this initial successful contact in order to give JCP access to some new voices on the issue of access to government information.

I want to express my appreciation to Lynne Bradley and Tara Olivero for setting the meeting up and I hope that you will thank them too if you have a chance.

7-6-07

If you have not taken a look at the July 2nd report from the National Security Archive on FOIA you should. Like all of their efforts this it is an excellent review of the challenges faced in getting FOIA requests filled. 40 Years of FOIA, 20 Years of Delay[18]

Introductory comments from ALA Annual 2007

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the Chair of GODORT. It is indeed an honor and I appreciate the trust that you have placed in me.
As many of you already know if you read my nomination statement when I ran for Chair and I hope that only a few of your are hearing this for the first time. I really intend for my tenure as Chair to be focused on positioning GODORT for the future. To that end I want to encourage all of you to think seriously about the type of organization we want GODORT to become in the next few years. The implementation of virtual membership, decreasing the number of meetings at annual 2008 (perhaps by relying more on e-mail and the GODORT Wiki in-between Midwinter and annual) and increasing the education and training opportunities for our members will be my priorities in the coming year.
One very important effort that has just gotten underway is our Roundtable's strategic planning effort. The strategic planning process will be lead by Linda Johnson and Marianne Ryan and includes a mix of "old hands" and newer GODORT members who have been asked to focus on the needs of the organization and to help us improve our services and outreach efforts. As part of this process the Membership Committee will be sending out a survey to evaluate our services and mission. I know that many of us are bombarded with survey requests but I really want to encourage each of you to respond to this survey. It will help us to better prepare a plan for the future if we know with some degree of assuredness what our members value (or not) about GODORT. We will also be working with ALA to get the survey out to former members as well.
Another challenge that I have asked Steering to consider is the question of virtual membership. I had several people ask me about this as an option when I approached them about serving in GODORT and it quickly became apparent that our organization must explore this opportunity for membership. I am calling on each Committee and Task Force Chair to communicate with your members about this so that by Mid-Winter we might be in a position to move forward on a plan to share with membership.
Although you have been kind enough to elect me as your Chair I want to stress that I do not claim to be an expert on ALA or on the myriad of government information issues we will likely face in the coming year. I not only welcome in-put and guidance from the membership I will require it if we are to be effective. So please feel free to call on me if you have questions or just want to talk as I will certainly be calling on you.
I am looking forward to a truly collaborative year.
Bill Sleeman